We’ve just landed back from Japan, still half dreaming, jet-lagged and unpacking, and somehow already knee-deep in our notes, photos, and memories, trying to shape them into a guide worthy of the trip that changed us.

This first chapter of Japan will focus on the Golden Route: Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, plus some day trips that are worth the detour.

We spent almost two years planning this adventure, obsessing over tiny details, weaving together the trip that became. the best trip of our lives.

We wanted contrasts, and Japan gave them to us in the most generous way. One night we’d be in a high-end hotel where every gesture felt choreographed, the next we’d fall asleep in the futons of a tiny machiya or a centuries-old ryokan that smelled of cedar and history. We ate at omakase counters, where every gesture felt like a ritual, but also at street stalls, markets, little izakayas and jazz bars tucked in hidden alleyways... We checked off the iconic sights we had been dreaming of visiting for years, but what stayed with us just as strongly were the slow, quiet moments: getting lost in neighborhoods where no one else seemed to be looking for anything.

Somewhere along the way, Japan snuck into our hearts. Maybe it was the way perfection and imperfection coexist so naturally. Maybe it was how every season, every detail, every moment is treated as something worth noticing. Maybe it was those tiny one-person shops where precision feels like a love language, and the goal is never to grow but to preserve something precious.

This guide is going to be big, full of all the things we loved and wish we had known in advance. But to do it justice, we need a little time.

If you want to be the first to know when the full guide goes live, just drop your email below. We can’t wait to share Japan with you.